


A Brush With Her

by LolMouse



Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Aaangst, Angst, Colored Text, Hurt No Comfort, One Shot, Sad, end of season 1
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-18
Updated: 2019-02-18
Packaged: 2019-10-30 19:51:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,525
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17835071
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LolMouse/pseuds/LolMouse
Summary: In the Fright Zone, Catra needs to brush her mane.In Brightmoon, Adora remembers how she used to.





	A Brush With Her

Catra scratched her mane idly, her claws catching in the strands and irritating her further. A week as second-in-command, a week after Bright Moon, a week after She-Ra, had done less to improve her mood than she thought it would. Not even watching Kyle try to finish a training exercise without Rogelio was helping her.

She heard the hiss of the door opening behind her on the viewing platform and the approaching footsteps made her tense up before she'd even consciously registered who it was. Big red claws picked her up from behind, and she started struggling without thinking. Scorpia had already trained Catra's body to recognize the danger she posed on an instinctive level.

"Getoff! Hey!"

"Hey Catra! I missed you at the briefing this morning! Are you okay?"

Catra managed to turn herself around in Scorpia's grip and pushed against her with her hands. "What's there to be briefed about? Troops recovering, rebuilding attack craft, blah blah. Put me down!"

"Aw, is kitty cranky?" But fortunately, despite the clear threat, she did let go. Catra landed on all fours, scampered on top of a railing on the viewing platform and licked her forearm, smoothing down a bit of ruffled fur.

"I'm fine," she said sullenly, taking no joy in the training dummy robot picking Kyle up and tossing him around. She'd programmed it to avoid actually tossing him out of bounds just to extend the exercise. She saw Rogelio on the sidelines practically twitching with concern and sighed.

"Cadet Rogelio! Go save your teammate's sorry behind! I'm sick of this!"

Rogelio didn't even salute to acknowledge her order, leaping in and quickly extricating Kyle before thoroughly dismantling the exercise. Watching the two of them made her feel cold. It wasn't that long ago that she'd watched someone else throw herself into danger whenever she could.

"Hey, don't sweat it! Kyle will get it someday!" Scorpia misread the situation and patted Catra hard enough on the back to nearly make her fall. She deftly caught the railing with her claws and swung back over as Scorpia looked at her curiously.

"What?"

"Oh, nothing! Just uh, your mane seems a bit, I guess..."

"My mane is fine."

"Of course! But like, I mean-"

Catra sighed. "Spit it out, Scorpia."

"Maybeyoushouldgetabrush?" said the big girl in a rush.

Catra scratched her mane irritably again and shook her head. "Entrapta offered, thanks but no thanks."

"Did she? What was wrong with that?"

"She has so much hair she uh, what was it. 'Industrialized the process', I think? So she put like this special arm in her robot which-"

Scorpia nodded quicky, understanding. "Right! I getcha. You like a personal touch."

Catra almost hissed, her fur standing on end. "Don't you dare."

"Come on, I can do delicate work!"

"No."

"You'll barely feel the tangles!"

"No!"

"I'll give you my extra green ration bar."

Catra said nothing.

"Well?" asked Scorpia.

"...Fine."

Catra dodged the incoming hug this time around.

 

 

 

 

 

Glimmer was fretting. This wasn't new, but it was distracting Adora from her personal overview on troop disposition, the rebuilding effort and construction of new defenses. She'd found the Rebellion's own style of handling this kind of planning inadequate for her.

"And what if the Horde is going to attack again and we might not be ready the crystal needs time to recharge and-"

"They won't attack yet, Glimmer. I already told you."

Glimmer poofed next to Adora's briefing table, disturbing some papers. "Yeah but what if they changed things since you were gone Adora?!"

"What if they changed the entire way the Horde is structured, their fighting forces and vehicles just like that?"

"Yeah like that." Glimmer looked sullen, and Adora couldn't help but put a hand on her head.

"Don't worry. It's fine. Wow, your hair is messy."

Glimmer sighed. "I've been getting up early to help with the construction, I don't have time for grooming!"

"And has Bow not said anything?"

"Uh. It's Bow. Duh."

Adora grinned. "Sorry, silly question. But I think I know what he said anyway."

Glimmer looked a little guilty. Adora smirked.

"Okay, yeah. My hair's a bit of a nest, and he did say I should take care of myself. I just hate brushing it by myself when it's like this and Bow's not around. He's off somewhere with Sea Hawk." She paused and her eyes lit up. "Hey, can you brush my hair?"

The request unexpectedly struck something deep in Adora, hard enough for Glimmer to notice.

"What's wrong, Adora?"

"Nothing, sorry. I'll do it."

"That's not nothing I see in your face. What's up?"

"Just sit down, Glimmer."

Glimmer poofed to a chair near Adora's personal grooming ecritoire, which she'd mostly used for drawing tactical plans and charts. Adora couldn't even pronounce the word 'ecritoire', but she knew her way around it well enough to quickly get out a brush.

Glimmer leaned into Adora's hands as she worked with quick and practiced motions, softer than Glimmer had expected.

"You know, you're usually so strong and stuff. I didn't even know you could be this delicate."

"I've had practice," Adora practically whispered.

Glimmer winced at her tone. "Okay, now there's definitely something wrong. Should we stop?"

"No, it's... it's just..."

 

 

 

Scorpia began slowly, her claws providing a surprisingly gentle touch as she worked through parts of Catra's mane. Catra resisted the urge to purr, but found it easier than she thought she would. Easier than before.

"Why so down, kitty? I'd have figured having your hair brushed would feel good!"

"Nothing," Catra said sullenly.

"Now that doesn't sound like nothing!"

"It's just..."

"Yes?"

  
  


"Adora used to do this for me." "I used to do this for Catra."

  
  


Glimmer turned around and looked Adora in the eyes, looking like she was about to say something, but stopped when she saw something in Adora's expression. Glimmer's eyes widened and quickly brimmed with emotion from whatever she saw and she hugged Adora fiercely.

  
  
  
  


Scorpia paused. Catra didn't turn around, not even when felt the claw on her shoulder.

"How about I just keep going?"

Catra nodded, and Scorpia resumed her work.

  
  


She didn't cry. She didn't cry.

  
  


Adora eventually turned Glimmer back around and finished brushing, then combing out her bird's nest, going finer than Catra had ever liked to. She couldn't help herself, comparing every difference to her old friend. Glimmer's hair wasn't as coarse or thick. It felt smoother than Catra's mane even before she was done. It smelled different. Catra had never cared to make her mane smell nice. Adding things to it interfered with her sense of smell, she'd always claimed.

 

 

 

 

Scorpia's touch was little more delicate than Adora's. Adora had learned over time exactly how rough Catra liked it, a perfect balance between doing it quickly and being thorough. She bared her teeth with every unexpected pull in her scalp, so different in intensity from what she'd been used to. Scorpia only had two modes: overwhelming, or too sensitive, no balance between the two.

  
  


It just wasn't the same. It just wasn't the same.

  
  


"Are you okay, Adora?"

"I'll be fine, Glimmer. I have work to do. And so do you, don't you?"

Glimmer eeped. "Oh no! I promised the foreman I'd be there half an hour ago! Aaa!"

Adora smiled as her friend poofed away, then returned to her little tactical enclosure.

It took a few minutes of work for her to notice the drop that fell on her latest scroll.

 

 

 

 

 

"Get off, Scorpia! I'm fine!"

"What does someone say when they've gotten something nice?"

Catra grumbled.

"What's that you said?"

"Thank you. Ration bar please."

Scorpia chuckled, brought out her promised treat and tried to pat Catra's head. Catra dodged it without even looking. She didn't turn around as Scorpia left the room.

That was when the first wet drop hit the fur on her arm.

 

Was it always going to be like this?  Was it always going to be like this?

 

These little reminders of her? These little reminders of her?

 

Why couldn't she just let go? Why couldn't she just let go?

 

 

 

 

Adora's shoulders eventually stopped, her full sobs having wracked her entire self as she leaned on her crossed arms, the contents of the table forgotten. It was just another reminder. Just another day. She didn't know how long this could go on, or how long it would, but she'd deal with it.

 

 

 

 

 

Catra ran a finger across the fresh claw marks in the wall she'd left there in her fury, still shaking as the last of the tears left her. She'd tried to kill her and meant it. So why was it so hard to just think of her? Would she still be like this if she'd succeeded?

Would it be even worse?

She clenched her fists, digging her claws a little into her palm.

No use thinking about it.

 

She had responsibilities now. She had responsibilities now.

 

They were waiting for her. They were waiting for her.

 

She gathered herself up, put on her best face, and made herself ready. No time to waste on crying. There was work to do.


End file.
